The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 13, 2004, Page 9, Image 9
Page9 GAME SCHEDULE
Monday, September 13, 2004 WOMEN’S SOCCER vs. Clemson, 7 p.m. Wednesday
use SOCCER
Carolina conquers tournament
By BRIAN DAVIS
THE GAMECOCK
I
The USC men’s soccer team
earned its third-straight adidas
Gamecock Classic Championship
with a 1-0 victory over Patriot
League foe Bucknell on Sunday.
The game was tied 0-0 for the
majority of regulation until a place
kick from freshman standout
forward Sebastian Lindholm was
sent across the goal and headed in
by sophomore forward Michael
Sambursky.
“On behalf of the entire team, it
(the championship) is a very good
accomplishment,” coach Mark
Berson said.
With the win, Carolina advances
its undefeated record to 4-0 on the
season. The game was full of
intensity as the Gamecocks, coming
off their physical victory over
Portland, had trouble getting many
scoring opportunities with only
seven shots on goal.
“If you watched the whole
tournament, the game versus
Portland took a lot of us as you
could tell it did to Portland in their
noon game today,” Berson said.
Additionally, the game included
three yellow cards to Carolina
players while Bucknell received one
yellow card and a red card to
forward Eric Brunton. Bucknell
was also assessed 20 fouls to the
Gamecocks’ 12.
Berson spoke of the value of
experience and of the late goal and
persistence displayed by the
players.
“It was a big confidence booster
and really an important lesson. Any
game can turn at any second. It’s
good to be on the positive side of
that lesson,” Berson said.
In their opening game of the
tournament Friday night, the
Gamecocks upset No. 16 Portland
3-2. Sophomore striker Ayo
Akinsete led the way with two
goals, including the game-winner in
the 78th minute from 12 yards out.
Akinsete was substituted in about
20 minutes into each half due to an
ankle injury that required him to sit
out some. However, Akinsete was
able to provide an excellent
offensive performance.
“It’s a great credit to him. He
had that ankle injury, and we kept
him out because of the two games
we have this weekend. But, it’s
great to see him out there scoring
goals again,” Berson said.
The Gamecocks were on the
board first as Ryan Deter knocked
in his first goal of the season in the
12th minute of the game. After a
series of crisp passes, Deter struck
the ball into the right corner of the
net while being tightly defended.
Akinsete added to the lead in the
30th minute of the game, where he
was able to gain control of, and tap
in, his second goal off of a rebound
from an Eric Szeszycki shot.
Portland quickly bounced back
and scored moments later with a
deep, powerful strike by
Christopher Sanders. Despite the
setback, the Gamecocks pressed on,
as they had several shots late in the
half to maintain the pressure.
Akinsete extended the Gamecock
lead and scored the game-winner in
the 78th minute off of an impressive
breakaway with some astounding
passes between he and Deter.
Portland’s Alejandro Salazar, a
highly talented player in the West
Coast Conference was held
scoreless until the 85th minute of
action where he tapped in a
rebound goal. Nonetheless,
Carolina’s effort was
unprecedented as it had over 10
shots in the second half and were
able to pull out a victory against
such a talented team.
“This is a very important one.
They haven’t lost this year and we
lost to them last year, so this was a
big win. We have lots of respect for
the Portland team and program,”
Berson said.
The game was extremely
physical as questionable officiating
plagued the match. Coaches,
players and fans had doubts about
calls or missed calls on several
headers, offsides plays, slide-tackles
and other physical contact.
Berson said he felt this style of
play worked in the Gamecocks’
favor. He said Bucknell “came in
with a game plan to shut us down,
and they kept coming at us but we
found a way out of it.”
Four USC players, Akinsete,
Sambursky, sophomore defender
Makan Hislop and junior defender
Josh Alcala, were named to the
adidas-Gamecock Classic All
Tournament Team. Carolina will
be in action this weekend in the
UPenn Tournament at the
University of Pennsylvania. The
Gamecocks will play the host
Quakers on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and
Sunday at noon against Princeton.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
4
Junior defender Josh Alcala tries to hold off a William and Mary
opponent. The Gamecocks remain undefeated after this weekend.
Gamecocks beaten
twice by ACC foes
By CHARLIE WALKER
THE GAMECOCK
The USC women’s soccer team
saw its record fall to 4-3 after losing
twice over the weekend in the
Virginia Nike Soccer Classic.
Atlantic Coast Conference
members and perennial powers
Maryland and Virginia defeated the
Gamecocks by 5-2 scores during the
tournament in Charlottesville, Va.
The Gamecocks played well
offensively during the matches, paced
by senior forward Ashley Williams’
three-goal weekend, but mental lapses
and critical defensive miscues plagued
the Gamecocks. Carolina surrendered
nine second-half goals, five against the
Terrapins and four against the
Cavaliers.
In the first match against
Maryland, USC got off to a strong
start as Williams netted a goal in
the 39th minute to put the
Gamecocks up 1-0, a lead they
would take into the locker room.
The second half, however, was
dominated by Maryland as the Terps
controlled the ball for the first 20
minutes of the half, scoring four
unanswered goals; the first coming
only 35 seconds into the half as
Danielle Malagari’s penalty kick was
headed in by Mallory Mahar.
Maryland forward Kelly Rozumalski
added another goal in the 48th
minute giving Maryland a 2-1
advantage. Six minutes later, the
Terrapins scored again off another
free kick when midfielder Nataly
Arias placed the free kick from
Kimmy Francis into the corner of the
net. Maryland added another goal
from Mahar and a Francis 40-yard
blast with five seconds remaining to
complete the 5-2 route. USC would
score again in the 87th minute on a
Jenna Ball breakaway. USC failed to
capitalize on many early
opportunities as the Gamecocks
outshot Maryland 15-11 and had a
7-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Despite the lopsided loss,
Carolina head coach Shelley Smith
was impressed with her team’s
effort for much of the game.
“We played them very well for
most the match but lost 5-2.
Maryland did a good job coming
out in the second half and there
was a span of about 10 minutes that
we fell apart. We gave up bad goals
and you can’t do that against teams.
It was very unlike us. I thought we
battled and continued to create
scoring chances but couldn’t get a
couple more to go in,” Smith said.
The final game of the weekend was
much of the same, as the Gamecocks
played well for a half but
subsequently were bullied by No. 4
Virginia. The Gamecocks took the
lead early as Williams scored from 25
yards out, her second of the weekend
and first of two on the day. Virginia
answered quickly in the 35th minute
on a penalty kick from Gillian Hatch.
Tied 1-1 at the break, Virginia
controlled the second half as four
different Cavaliers scored to
seemingly break the game wide open.
Goals by Shannon Foley in the 53rd
minute and Kelley Hammond in the
54th gave Virginia a 3-1 cushion.
The Gamecocks fought back,
however, as Ashley Williams netted
her second goal just three minutes
after the Virginia goal. Williams came .
in on a breakaway and chipped the
ball over Virginia keeper Christina de
Vries to cut the UVA lead to 3-2 at the
57th minute mark. Virginia would
add two late goals, though, as Lindsay
Gusick scored in the 62nd minute and
Sarah Huffman added another goal in
the final minute of play.
Williams, midfielder Jessi Swaim,
and defender Jackie Welch earned
all-tournament honors for USC.
Virginia finished the tournament in
first place with a 2-0 record.
The Gamecocks return to action
Wednesday in Columbia at 7 p.m.
against in-state rival Clemson. USC
will also host Charlotte on Sunday
in the team’s last non-conference
match of the season.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
SARAH ZILINSKY/THE GAMECOCK
Junior defender Jackie Welch lines up a kick versus Georgia State earlier in the season. The women’s
soccer team dropped a pair of games this weekend against Maryland and Virginia in Charlottesville.
My heart lies on the sidelines
■ Reporter Jill Arrington
is ESPN’s very own
goddess of the gridiron
Despite the
pain of a close
loss to Georgia
Saturday night
and the
embarrassment
1 felt after
forgetting my
place as an
unbiased
STEPHEN professional in
FASTENAU the press box
~' while
SECOND-YEAR celebrating an
MECHANICAL early Bulldoe
ENGINEERING , g
STUDENT tumble, one
bright spot
helped to ease
the disappointment of this
weekend. It came in the form of a
beautiful, 5-foot-10-inch, blue
eyed blonde I had the pleasure to
meet on the set of ESPN GameDay
Friday. No, it wasn’t anchor Kirk
Herbstreit (although he signed my.
hat). It was sideline reporter Jill
Arrington.
Lost in the hype surrounding
ESPN anchors Lee Corso, Chris
CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
Despite a heartbreaking loss to the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday,
Stephen Fastenau found solace in the form of a broadcast beauty.
Fowler and Herbstreit, Arrington
was content to hang around the
production trailer — safe from the
catcalls of numerous drunken frat
boys. The SportsCenter taping
finished, the majority of the crowd
either dispersed or ogled over
Herbstreit and Fowler, and my
friend Brandon and I spotted
Arrington talking on her cell phone
off to the side of the set.
Waving my dollar bill in the air
like an idiot — it was the only piece
of paper I had for her to sign — I
began hoping she did not get the
wrong idea about my intentions. As
♦ Please see FASTENAU, page 10
Volleyball falls to Duke
in weekend invitational
By MEGAN GIBSON
THE GAMECOCK
The Gamecock women’s
volleyball team improved its
record to 5-2 this past weekend at
the Duke Invitational in Durham,
N.C. The Gamecocks finished
second in the tournament with
wins against Towson and
Northern Illinois University and a
loss to home team £>uke.
The first match of the
tournament was against Duke
Friday night. The Gamecocks lost
30-21, 30-21, 30-24 in a three
game sweep. USC had a season
low .055 kill percentage and a
season-high 12 service errors.
Carolina established early leads in
the first two games, but was soon
overthrown because of numerous
unforced errors and Duke’s Carrie
DeMange’s match high 13 kills.
In game three, USC came
within two points late in the game
to make the score 24-26, but the
Blue Devils held them at 24 to win
30-24. The Gamecoiks are now 1
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Sophomore outside hitter and middle blocker Shonda Cole goes
up for a block against in-state rival Clemson Tuesday.
2 against ACC teams this season. 22-30, 30-21. Outside hitter
The Gamecocks then faced and Sarah Morgan recorded a season
defeated Northern Illinois f
Saturday morning 30-28, 30-27, ♦ Please see VOLLEYBALL, page 10